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AKsRADOM
A FAMOUS NAME IS BACK!!!
COMING
SOON:
he Russian Izhmash factory is famous for being the home of both Mikhail Kalashnikov and
his legendary Avtomat. If you travel some 1,500
kilometers due east of Moscow, youll find this dilapidated icon of the Cold War. While Izhmash is certainly
the most famous arsenal producing Kalashnikov rifles,
it is hardly the only one. There are actually quite a few
FROM
licensed and even non-licensed manufacturers of Kalashnikov rifles spread out around the world. These include
the Bulgars, Chinese, Romanians, and Serbs. Each has
its following.
Perhaps the most interesting AKs, though, are those
built in Poland. This is especially true when you consider
how this old Warsaw Pact member has become an impor-
By David M. Fortier
In 1922 the Panstwowa Wytwornia Broni (PWB, State Arms Plant) was founded in Radom. Today the plant is known as Fabryka Broni Lucznik-Radom.
For this issue Fortier takes you all the way to Poland for a peek at small arms production in the
famous city of Radom, home of the Archer.
Michalczuk originally founded the company to produce high quality side-by-side shotguns for cowboy action
competition. Their effort in this regard was a handsomely
built Greener-style double with exposed hammers. This
sported dual triggers, rebounding hammers, Greenerstyle locking crossbolt and thick 18.5-inch barrels.
The piece was accented with a reddish European hardwood stock with a period correct rounded ball pistol
grip. A handsome piece, Pioneer Arms Coach Gun was
well received.
Today though, Pioneer Arms focus is on a different
segment of the market. They have teamed up with I.O.
Inc. to offer some very interesting pieces to the US market. The first of these was their 7.62x25mm PPS-43C pistol. This is a semi-automatic pistol version of the famous
PPS-43 (Pistolet-Pulemet Sudaeva, model of 1943) submachine gun.
Pioneer Arms produces these using a combination
of newly designed and manufactured and original parts. During my time at Pioneer Arms, I had
a chance to examine scores of original unissued
Polish-produced PPS-43s. These were waiting to be
dissembled and turned into parts for the production of new PPS-43C pistols.
The quality of workmanship on these 1950svintage Polish submachine guns was excellent. I
have to say it was a unique experience to pull one of
these submachine guns, brand new, from its original wooden shipping crate.
Better still, though, was the opportunity to testfire one on Pioneer Arms test range. I found the
piece to be comfortable, with well laid out controls.
It was very simple to operate and proved easy to
control and hit with, despite the zippy rate of fire.
Im glad to see these classic submachine guns being used for parts on commercial guns exported to
the USA rather than simply being destroyed.
Walking around the facility with Wiegand, I
asked questions, examined machinery and chatted
with workers. While the building is old, the workers
are well versed in firearms production. Most have
well over a decade of experience and most came to
work at Pioneer directly from Fabryka Broni.
Michalczuk examines a crate of like-new Polish-built 7.62x25mm PPS-43 submachine guns destined to become parts of semi-automatic PPS-43C pistols.
A little-known but
incredibly slick
piece is the PM-63
9x18mm submachine gun. Pioneer is
currently working on
a semi-auto model
for the US market.
there was still a market for it in 1930. Better still the price
of the license, along with a complete manufacturing line,
was dirt-cheap. Approximately 17,000 Ng wz.30s were
made through the production run, which lasted until
1937. The last 810 were not shipped until 1938 (110) and
1939 (700).
In late 1932, a decision was made to move production of
the new 9mm P.A. WiS wz.1931 self-loading pistol to Fabryka Broni. However, during troop trials the Department
of the Cavalry vetoed further production. They demanded a means to securely decock the pistol single-handedly
while controlling the mount with the other hand.
This led to a complete redesign, testing and adoption
of the now famous 9mm Vis wz.35 semi-automatic pistol. Vis (Latin for force) was actually a carryover of WiS,
which stood for Piotr Wilniewczyc and Jan Skrzypinski.
They were both senior management staff of the PWU and
PWU-FK in Warsaw. The young designer who actually
labored on the design, Feliks Modzelewski, received little
credit for his efforts.
Unfortunately, handgun production fell victim to the
need for increased rifle production. Ng wz.30 revolver
production was canceled while Vis pistol production was
Nazi Occupation
Despite the best efforts of Fabryka Broni, in September 1939 the Polish Army was faced with the impossible
task of trying to fend off both Nazi Germany and the
Soviet Union. Fabryka Broni was captured by the Germans on September 8, 1939. After its capture, Fabryka
Broni, renamed Waffenfabrik Radom, sat idle for almost
one year before it was put under the administration of
suspended in March 1937. Production was restarted at Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG.
an increased rate in 1938 with 17,900 pieces accepted
Soon the factory was working three shifts a day, priby the Polish Army. 6,800 pistols were produced in the marily making Vis wz.35 pistols, with the new designafirst quarter of 1939 with 30,000 produced for 1939 prior tion P.35(p), delivered to the Heereswaffenamt of the
to the German occupation. Total production exceeded Third Reich. When stocks of Polish rifle parts were ex49,000.
hausted, the P.35(p) became the main product of the facProduction was kept at a frantic pace throughout 1939, tory, though automotive parts were also produced and
with monthly carbine production averaging some 31,000 a large truck repair facility organized. The factory also
pieces. As an example of
become home to a forced labor camp.
[Cont. to page 32]
measures taken to increase
production, on December 1,
1930 Fabryka
Broni had
2,967 employees working one shift six days a
week. On January 1, 1939 there were
4,635 employees working two shifts
a day.
The Mini Beryl is a compact
5.56x45mm carbine with a short barrel,
optics rail and collapsible stock. Its
modern, but still based on the AK-47.
SPECIFICATIONS:
FABRYKA BRONI ARCHER